Chapter 25 - Chapter 24

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Translator: penny

Chapter: 24

Chapter Title: Stat Skill Purchase

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'…That said, Hye-jeong's little sister had better be drop-dead gorgeous. To make all this bullshit suffering worth it…'

I figured that including the ones from earlier, I'd killed at least 500 zombies so far…

But these fucking zombie bastards just kept crawling out of nowhere, relentlessly climbing up the stairs.

Let's think for a second…

This apartment's 20 stories tall.

Two units per floor…

So 40 units across 20 floors.

Even assuming four people per household generously, that's 160 people.

'…But there are lines on either side, right?'

Hye-jeong's place was 1004.

I was 1003.

Flanking us were the 1-2 line and the 5-6 line.

In other words, 1001 and 1002 to the left, 1005 and 1006 to the right.

That makes 120 units per building.

Times four people… 480…

Hmm…

'…Of course, these days there are tons of two-person or single-person households…

I was a singleton myself, and Hye-jeong didn't have kids, so two-person household.

Plus, some might've gone to work or be on vacation, not here…

Cut it in half, and you're looking at around 240 per building…?

But that's optimistic thinking… Could be all 480.

Hell, some houses might have relatives visiting or be five- or six-person families…'

The real problem was how damn big this apartment complex was.

My building was 210 Dong, 1003.

My 2nd block had buildings 201 through 210.

The adjacent 1st block was 101 through 110.

Thank god there was no 3rd block.

All told, 20 buildings.

240 times 20… 4,800. About 5,000.

No rose-tinted glasses? 480 times 20 is 9,600… Around 10,000.

So, anywhere from 5,000 to 10,000 zombie fuckers lurking around.

And that's not even counting the ones from nearby shops or roads that might get agroed over…

Over 10,000…?

"Ah, fuck. What a shitshow today's been.

Should've grabbed a silencer and gone loud…

It's not like suppressor parts were in short supply…"

Zombies were still shambling toward the apartment in droves.

Every now and then, I spotted some sprinters. The runners.

Of course, even runners drop to a single bullet from my trusty boomstick.

"Hmm… Starting to get a little spooked here… Need a moment to sort my thoughts. Hey! System! Tower lobby—"

As usual, before I could even finish, I was already back in the Tower's lobby, that void of nothingness.

"Phew… Catch my breath here for a bit…"

I zoned out for a while, killing time.

Then it hit me—I'd forgotten something crucial.

"…Oh right, why didn't I think of the shop? Hey, system. Open the shop window."

I scrolled through the list of stuff I could afford.

Points were stacking up nicely.

Killing around 500 zombies had netted me… 6,021 points.

"So how many did I actually kill…?"

"…Really? Should've told me sooner, you fucking lump of shit…"

As the system said, thinking about zombies on Floor 1 showed I'd killed 521.

A bunch of other stats popped up too.

Out of those 521, 28 were runners.

"Runners are still a low percentage… Around 5%? Give it a month into 'early game,' and it'll hit 10% easy…"

Project Zombie World's phases break down like this:

Day 1 to 30: Ultra-early.

30 days (1 month) to 3 months: Early.

3 months to 1 year: Mid.

After 1 year: Late.

After 3 years: Endgame.

Truth is, late and endgame aren't super clear-cut.

Most don't make it past early or mid.

That's just how Project Zombie World was designed.

Except for degenerates like me, whose brains are in their dicks, wanting to install adult mods in an apocalypse game just to fuck the female NPCs…

For pretty much everyone else, it was probably about soaking in that doomsday vibe, pondering humanity's—and their own—final days.

'…But I just wanna fuck women in an apocalypse scenario.'

There was something about that hopeless, extreme situation—knocking up a bunch of women.

Wait, hold up. Not the point right now.

I turned back to the shop, hunting for buys.

"Hmm… Vitality…"

I nearly impulse-bought Vitality without thinking.

But surrounded by zombies? Gotta be careful with picks like that.

'Internet said the core six stats are the basics…

No need to sweat the rest or level them…

Strength, Agility, Stamina, Magic Power, Insight, Spirit. Just those six.

For physical builds, pump Str/Agi/Stam.

For magic/ESP, go Magic/Insight/Spirit…'

"Hmm… Passive skills all start at 1,000 points base, like swordsmanship…

…But aiming and shooting are different? Yeah, must be why they're separate."

Scrolling the shop, curiosity hit—I checked for Weapon Mastery.

And I damn near shit myself.

"…Two million? Two fucking million…? So the base was a million-point skill…

Passives aren't all the same price, huh…

Getting familiar with ALL weapons is THAT expensive a passive…?"

Turned out my first skill was a goddamn premium one.

Yeah, that explained why I was popping off with guns. Felt too good to be true…

Other passives were 1k pops,

but this bad boy flexed a cool million solo.

"No wonder the skill name rang zero bells.

Way too pricey—unless you're digging the shop's ass-end, no reason to spot it.

Even Tower clearers wouldn't buy it…

So no reviews or chatter anywhere…

That's why I'd never seen it online."

At first, I was stunned…

But as time passed, my lips started curling up.

"Kuhuhu… Jackpot…"

Buzzing, I dumped 6,000 of my 6,021 points into the core six stats.

The 'Str-Agi-Sta-Mag-Ins-Spi' basics from Tower survivor forums.

100+200+300+400=1,000 per stat.

1k each into all six.

Boom—all hit Lv.4.

"…Wait, did I go overboard flexing…?

Bought without even reading descriptions properly…

Hey, system. Can I refund these?

You know, that 14-day cooling-off period bullshit."

"Fuck off, you motherless shit. Don't you follow the law? Refund it, asshole.

Some consumer protection law says 7 or 14 days for withdrawals, dickhead."

"Your mom's a whore, you soulless prick. No goddamn conscience. Eat shit and die alone.

You piece of dogshit. Don't live like that, blinded by greed. Huh?"

I spent a good five minutes unloading on that system bitch…

But the damn thing's mental was ironclad—only my jaw hurt.

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